Chapter 19

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

Stop! I shouted at my monster girls. Fall back. Hide. Let them pass.

Lord Leo! rang through my mind from all twelve of my monster girls.

“What are they doing?” asked Lana. “Why are the monster girls retreating down the side passages. They’re letting the adventurers get in.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m going to parley with them. I want to talk with them. Find out what they are doing. Maybe get the adventurers to stop targeting my place.”

“What?” gasped Lana.

“Big bro!” Garnet stared at me in shock. “That’s insane.”

“Yep,” I said. Usiku, come to the throne room.

Yes, Lord Leo, came her answer.

I drew in a deep breath as I watched the adventurers moving forward. I couldn’t do anything about the traps, but one of their dots appeared skilled at disabling them after they triggered the first one. They moved through the labyrinth, my monster girls hiding like I commanded. The party approached the lightning room.

“This is so stupid,” muttered Garnet.

“Probably,” I answered. “But I don’t want to kill them. Maybe they can be reasoned with. Show them I’m not like the other dungeon builders. I don’t want to cause problems.”

“It’s noble,” Lana said.

Garnet puffed out her cheeks and her tail swished back and forth. “You’re risking your life, big bro. You’re the only one of us that can’t come back. You die, and it’s over for all of us.”

“I’m not going to die,” I said. “If they fight, it’ll be the four of us against the three of them. We have the advantage.”

The adventurers reached the lightning room. Would they die in there? I didn’t know. They moved into the room. The nearest pillar flickered on the map. One of the red dots blinked, taking damage. The other characters scattered. The lightning pillar pulsed again. A red dot moved to it. Then the pillar winked out.

They disabled their way through the room. My fingers clenched about on the throne. Was I making a mistake? Maybe. But I had to show the world that I wasn’t a bad guy. That I didn’t need to be their enemy. I could be an ally to them.

There was no need for us to be enemies. For my existence to promote such animosity.

The adventurers began searching the lightning room. Would they find the false door or go down one of the two decoy tunnels. Maybe they wouldn’t find us and retreat.

Well, at least they would be alive. They could tell the others that this wasn’t a real dungeon. That would be nice.

They headed down the south decoy route. It was nothing but a small maze full of traps. It went nowhere. Garnet started pacing more and more, shaking her head. She stared at me with this fear in her eyes.

She was worried for me.

Lana was getting antsy, too, but she tried to hide it. Usiku had found this stoic calm. She stood almost like a statue, hardly moving. I flexed my fingers. Then I sent a command to one of the wildhounds.

Du was the closest. She raced to the lightning room. While the adventurers were moving through the southern maze, Du reached the lightning room and opened the concealed door before she darted back out of the room.

“Big bro!” Garnet gasped. She shook her head in exasperation at me, her red hair dancing about her features. “Really?”

“Really,” I said. “We’re here to make friends today.”

The trio took about a quarter hour to explore the offshoot and then headed back to the lightning room. They stepped out into the room and froze. They huddled up for several minutes. They had to be talking about the open door.

“Great, they see it as a trap,” I said, shaking my head.

“It was our best defense,” groaned Garnet. “And you just turned it off. Why not just march to the entrance and be a greeter! Just shake their hands like you work at Walmart or something, big bro?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that next time,” I said with a big smile.

My little sister shot me an irritated look. She puffed out her cheeks again, her demon wings fluttering. “Big bro, you are so maddening!”

“They’re moving,” said Usiku. “They’re coming here.”

The adventuring party cautiously moved to the door. One appeared to search it then led the way. That dot must be a rogue-type character. He kept disabling all the traps that lined the way. They reached Usiku’s guard room and the door that led here.

“Okay, places,” I said, the tension growing. I stood up, holding my lightning spear. I drew in a deep breath, hoping this wasn’t the greatest mistake of my life.

The three figures moved down the corridor and then reached the throne room. I looked at the doors. They were just on the other side. My heart pounded so fast in my chest. Garnet stood on my right, Lana on my left. Usiku to the side, arms folded across her chest.

“Okay, this is—” I started to say.

The doors flung open and the trio rushed in.

A woman led the way. She wore armor straight out of a cheesy fantasy movie from the Eighties. A breastplate bikini that cradled her tits and a matching pair of steel panties. She had pauldrons covering her shoulders and thigh-high boots with greaves strapped over them to protect her ankles. Her black hair streamed behind her in a braid. She held a sword in her hand, the blade bright silver, and seemed to be vibrating. I could hear a hum coming from it.

Behind her came two men. One was clearly the rogue, a slim man in black leather with a knife in hand. The other looked to be a mage or a priest, it was hard to say, wearing yellow robes with a white accent to them. He didn’t have a staff or wand, but his hand clutched at an amulet about his neck. A wide disc of gold.

Like a holy symbol. A priest?

“Welcome, welcome,” I said, trying to sound friendly as I stepped forward. The trio stared at me suspiciously. The woman advanced, the rogue and cleric following behind her. They formed a triangle aimed at me. “I’m Leo. Leo Baldwin. And I would like to talk. To parley!”

The woman at the lead stopped. She had reached the map. Her brow furrowed. She was young and beautiful. Blue eyes that held an intensity. Red lips that pursed tight. She glanced back at the cleric. He clutched even tighter at his holy symbol.

“Dungeon builders never want to parley,” he said. “It’s a trap.”

“Yep,” the rogue said.

“It’s not a trap,” I said, stepping forward. I reached the other side of the map. “I want to talk. I don’t want to have to fight you. I am not a threat to anyone. I just want to build my dungeon and live in peace. No one has to die. You can help spread the word. Tell the others that I’m not a threat.”

“I’m sure you would love that, monster!” the woman spat. She aimed her sword at me. The tip of the blade fuzzed to a blur as it was humming. When she moved it, the buzzing sound cleaved through the air. “A chance to build up your monsters. To spread the reach of your foul labyrinth. You think we are stupid to give you the chance to swell your power? To siphon off more of the mana of this world and leave it drained.”

“That’s not what I’m doing,” I said. “This is a big misunderstanding. I don’t want to attack anyone. I’m not going to drain this world to a husk. I just want—”

“LIAR!” she screamed and charged forward.

I gaped as she rushed across the map, her boots thudding on the glass covering. Her sword hummed as it aimed right at my guts. My training paid off. I was stunned by the sudden rush, but my body reacted out of instinct. My lips moved, chanting the words to a spell.

“Lightning crackle and hiss, gird me in the love of Lady Uttu!” I cried out.

A web of crackling lightning burst around me. The sword struck the currents. They caught the weapon, folding the field of static electricity around me. The fighter’s face twisted with fury as she pressed the sword in.

“DIE!” she screamed.

“You bitch!” gasped Garnet.